266 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



tion is such that that vitality is destroyed 

 thereby. This may be so, but it canuot be 

 confidently affirmed without a knowledge of 

 the degree of heat which is applied in the 

 process to ail parts of the wax. It is well 

 kuown that it is a generally accepted fact 

 that a high tempeniture is injurious to wax 

 in cjnseqaence ul which we may suppose 

 there is a laudable desire on the part of 

 manufacturers to apply no more heat than is 

 necessary to the wax in the process of its 

 manufacture into foundation, and, as no 

 more than 160° is absolutely necessary for 

 that purpose, the maker, under an impres- 

 sion that a given lot of wax is free from dis- 

 ease germs— an impression which may be 

 without any solid foundation — may apply a 

 temperature no higher than that, and if it 

 shall turn out that the wax contained live 

 germs, and that 1(30° is insufficient to kill 

 them, the consequence would be the almost 

 certain propagation of the dread disease in 

 places where perhaps it was never before 

 known. 



The danger is tlius apparent unless it can 

 be determined that the temperature neces- 

 sary for the rendering and manufacture of 

 wax into foundation is sufficient for the de- 

 st uction of the germs. 



With the purpose of attempting at least a 

 parti d solution of this question, in the sum- 

 mer of 1893 1 placed combs, pretty thorough- 

 ly affected with foul brood, into a solar wax 

 extractor to be rendered into wax. In ren- 

 dering the combs a thermometer was kept 

 in the extractor and frequently observed, 

 and at no time was it seen to show a tempe- 

 rature higher than 180°, and only once at that 

 point, but of course the wax melted and ran 

 into the recep;.acle bel^.v, i.t all tempera- 

 tures below that which were sufficiently high 

 for the purpost*. Tnere being no opportu- 

 nity to complete the proposed experiment 

 that season the wax thus obtaiued from the 

 combs was laid aside till the present year. 



This year in June the wax was again put 

 in the solar wax extractor, the temperature 

 rising in the process to 175°. When the wax 

 was melted and stood in the receptacle in a 

 liquid state the dipping tank was supplied 

 with water at a temperature of L^f)" and when 

 everything was ready the melted wax was 

 poured into the tank and sufficient of it dip- 

 ped to supply two colonies. Tlie resulting 

 sheets were made iuto foundation witli the 

 Given [)reps and fitted into the frames of two 

 hives and on the 20th of July a colony of 



bees was put into one of them and on the 

 2.5th one was put into the other. The last 

 was rather a weak colony and a little later 

 superseded its queen so that it worked out 

 only about one-half the foundation, while 

 the other one made use of nearly all its 

 foundation. At different times the colonies 

 were examined for foul brood, but no sign 

 of it was found till the 8th of October when 

 nearly all brood being hatched out a thor- 

 ough examination was made and a single 

 cell of apparently foul broody matter was 

 found in each. This raises a very strong 

 presumption, almost amounting to certain- 

 ty, that the wax conveyed the disease but 

 the hives will be watched another season for 

 fuilher developments. 



The method of curing foul brood hereto- 

 fore recommended, and which I have so of- 

 ten proved effective, was tried again this 

 year, upon a colony which was rather badly 

 affected, with the usual satisfactory results. 

 The method pursued will be found fully ex- 

 plained in a former report. 



It is a question of much interest whether 

 a colony once affected with the disease of 

 foul brood always succumbs if left to itself, 

 or, whetlier, under some circumstances, it 

 is able to overcome and eradicate the dis- 

 ease. The colony referred to a year ago as 

 having foul brood unmistakably in the year 

 18'J2 is still being kept under observation 

 with reference to this point. The colony 

 has continued strong and prosperous. Dur- 

 ing the month of August one cell containing 

 foul broody matter was discovered but early 

 in October when there was only little brood 

 remaining, not a single sign of disease could 

 be discovered on a thorough examination. 

 It is too early to affirm that the disease may 

 die out of itself, but it has certainly de- 

 creased in this colony within two years, and 

 appearances favor the opinion that its even- 

 tual extirpation is possible. 



Lapeeb, Mich. 



Oct. 11, 1894. 



Sulphur an Apparent Cure for Bee Paralysis. 



O. O. POPLETON. 



BEE paralysis seems to be the most thor- 

 oughly misunderstood of any important 

 part of bee culture, and it is fully time that 

 some of our experiment stations were giving 

 us some definite kuowiedge of the disease. 



